I had a good weekend in OH. One major drawback was trying to listen to the debates while driving through the mountains on the way there. Do people in mountain communities not have radios yet? I can't see what good the radios would do, actually, since there's no reception for 100 miles. I had no idea that people in Maryland were still living in such primitive conditions. Think they know about TV?
Anyway, my sister broke the one rule she has never wavered on so that we could listen to (metallic, echoing, static, mumbled fragments of) the debate: we listened on a.m. B. has always observed a strict ban on all a.m. radio, because talk radio makes her carsick. (This is a lie; she just hates talk radio. But it's a lie that she's always stood by, which makes it almost true, like WMDs in Iraq). Anyway, the debate sounded like a draw to me. I was surprised that anyone thought it was a landslide, either way. Kerry had a slight edge, I thought, but he'll need to step it up before the final debate. Also, it's much easier to listen to the debate when there's no chance of glimpsing Bush. It was still nerve-wracking, but I didn't feel really ill, like I did during the first debate, or the v.p. debate when I was watching in my living room. I never, ever want to see Dick Cheney's face in my living room.
Anyway, I was really heartened by all of the Kerry/Edwards signs in my hometown. I think it was about 60% Kerry, 40% Bush, which is the opposite of what I anticipated. As I've said before, I may be more upset if Bush wins Ohio than I will be if he wins the election. Things in my hometown are grim, and more factories are closing all the time. But people are outraged at some of the tactics used by the Secretary of State, a guy called Blackwell. He's been doing everything he can to depress the Democrat vote; trying to outlaw new registrations because they're not printed on the right paper, banning provisional ballots, etc. It's craziness.
Anyway, the whole weekend made me a little homesick. This is normal for autumn; I'm always homesick then because you just can't get good apples in DC. But this time I had a new revelation.
We spent some time with my uncle and his partner and their friends. They all live in Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio University. It's a beautiful part of the country, and OU is the only other school I applied for besides GW. I got in, too, and by rights I should have gone there. It was affordable, that's where most of the college-bound from my graduating class went, etc. This weekend, I thought for the first time how well I would have fit in in Athens. If I'd gone to OU, I'd probably still be there, wearing comfortable shoes a good 90% of the time (this is the most attractive thing about the hippie lifestyle, by a wide margin.) If I ever decide to move back to Ohio, which is forever an option, maybe it will be to Athens. Just far enough away from my own family, liberal, artsy, cheap...plus I have enough family there to get invited to a dinner party once in a while and maybe get a job. It's an intriguing prospect. I'll price clogs this week.
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